Chaos at Camp
by Nari Crow
Summary: People aren't getting along! So what does Tsunade do? Send them to camp. What's going to happen when everyone's stuck under one roof? Sort of sequel to 'Crashing A Sleepover.'
1. The Beginnings of Chaos

A/N: I'm back! I'm back in the Naruto-ing world!

And such a joy it is, too. I'm going to have fun with this. -cackles- This is sort of going to pick up where the last fic left off, but a few months have passed.

Naruto and the others are going to camp! I'm going to start out with Nari, I think.

Rating is T for language in some of the chapters, and to be safe. I'm fairly certain it's AU.

Usual pairings, of course. And . . . what am I missing?

Demyx: -huff, puff- What did I miss?

Crow: Ah, there you are. This isn't a Kingdom Hearts fic, but you still want to hang around?

Demyx: -shrugs- May as well.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of the characters, or the manga, I'm just using them for my story. I also don't own Demyx. And thank God for that. I have enough trouble with my little brother.

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Chapter One - Trouble With Teamwork

Nari panted as she scrabbled her way up the tree. Camouflaging herself with a hasty illusion jutsu, she peered down to the tree's trunk to see if her persuer had caught up with her yet.

She had managed to avoid training with Gai for a month, but Tsunade had chewed her out when she had found her. Apparently it was one of the great Hyuuga traditions for the prodigies to not use facial expressions. Go figure.

Now she was on a mission, which should have been simple recon. Now she was being chased by a Grass ninja, which was proving to be very irritating.

A thought came to her, and she shapechanged into a small sparrow, gritting her teeth at the amount of chakra it took to change. She needed to get into better shape.

The sparrow Nari flew into the air, getting so high that even a ninja who specialized in jumping couldn't reach her, just in case. She beat her wings and lit out towards Konoha, eager to get back to her cat Twi and wondering what was going on with her friends.

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Sakura pressed herself against the solid tree, glancing over at Naruto. They and Sasuke were training together, a simple training "mission." Kakashi was with them as well, keeping an eye out to make sure they didn't kill each other. Because there'd been some trouble with their teamwork lately.

"Dobe," Sasuke hissed. "We need to go this way."

"No, this way," Naruto argued. Sakura rolled her eyes. Why did boys have to be so stubborn?

While they were arguing, she quietly slipped into the base they were sneaking into. She saw the scroll and carefully lifted it up, nodding to Kakashi. There weren't any traps on it, luckily enough, although some of these training "missions" had numerous traps. Sakura snuck out quickly, Kakashi disappearing behind her.

"Are you boys done yet?" she asked the boys, who were still arguing over how to get in. She hefted the scroll. "We've got what we came for, so let's go."

Sasuke and Naruto looked up, their eyes wide. "Oh," they both said faintly, turning slightly red. They wordlessly disappeared, which was odd for Naruto. Ever since he'd been forced to stop talking for a week, he hadn't been able to STOP talking.

Sakura shook her head and walked towards Konoha. Kakashi looked into the sky and saw a white bird drop a small scroll. He caught it and opened it up. He read the scroll, frowned, and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

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Ino scowled at Chouji, who was sitting at the table across from her, eating a seemingly endless amount of barbeque. "Shouldn't we be training?" she demanded.

"It would be too troublesome," Shikamaru said lazily; he was sitting next to Chouji. "Asuma gave us a week off, so why should we train?"

Ino let out a small scream of frustration. "You're both so lazy!" she exclaimed, getting up and leaving the store in a huff.

Shikamaru stared after her. "What's her problem?" he asked himself. Girls seemed to be like some other species sometimes.

Asuma was sitting next to Ino when she left. He looked out the window and saw a bird fluttering just beyond it. He excused himself and went outside, seeing the small scroll in its claws. Reading it, he cursed under his breath and vanished in a puff of smoke.

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Tenten hit the target with her kunai, smiling when she hit the bulls-eye. She glanced over at her companions, holding in her laughter as she did.

Lee was doing push-ups on one side of the clearing. His eyebrows had grown back some, but they were nowhere near as big as the caterpillars he'd had before. Gai was looking on, encouraging him by ranting on about youth. They had ignored Tenten and Neji for the better part of a week, trying to get Lee's eyebrows to grow back faster. They were still mostly ignoring Tenten and Neji, but not as much as before.

Tenten looked over at Neji and shook her head slightly, smiling. He seemed to be meditating, and to the untrained eye he seemed the same as before, but Tenten knew him too well. Neji was sulking, angry that he had smiled, frowned, moved his face's muscles. Tenten had learned about a week afterward that there was some sort of tradition, a tradition of stoicness. His whole family was moping, mourning the loss of his stoic face.

As she returned to her target practice, Tenten wondered what was going to happen now. It had been a while since something catostrophic had happened, and Konoha was overdue for an upturning.

Gai started slightly when the little white bird landed on his shoulder. He took the scroll from its beak and read it. Then he told Gai to keep at it and ran off.

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Shino glared at his teammates from behind his glasses, leaning against the tree where they met. Hinata was leaning against the bridge's handrail, her elbows resting on the smooth wood. Kiba was talking to Akamaru, his now gigantic dog. Why was Shino glaring, you ask? Because he was angry, of course.

_It's not my fault, Cecile!_ he thought furiously to his bug friend. _They didn't help me when I took my glasses off! I was chased for days!_ He shuddered, remembering the hordes of girls that had practically attacked him.

Hinata was looking at the sky, smiling faintly. She wasn't thinking about much of anything, except for how quiet it had been lately. She, like Tenten, thought that something HAD to be happening soon. Konoha was long overdue, indeed.

Kiba was talking excitedly to Akamaru about something that had happened the last night. Whatever it was doesn't matter, mostly because I have no idea what it is. A cat was sitting on the bridge's handrail, her long tail undulating in the air. Kiba had promised to take care of Twi, Nari's cat. He seemed to have taken Twi under his wing, treating her like Akamaru.

Kurenai was watching the three of them, her arms folded. They were resting after a day of training, deciding to stay together instead of going home. Hinata pointed to the sky, pointing at a small bird. Kurenai held up one hand, the palm flat, and let the bird land. She took the scroll the bird offered and unrolled it, reading it quickly. "I'll see all of you for training tomorrow," she said quietly, vanishing.

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"All right," Tsunade said as soon as all of the jounin had gathered. "I've called you all here for a reason."

"And it better be a good one," Kakashi warned. He looked miffed.

"I've noticed that some of your teams have had some . . . trouble cooperating lately," Tsunade said hesitantly.

"I've noticed it, too," Asuma agreed. "What should we do about it?"

Tsunade folded her hands together and put her elbows on her desk. "I'm going to send all of them to a camp," she said clearly, "so they can have time to bond."

"Sucks for them - I mean, good idea," Kakashi said.

"Perhaps I wasn't clear," Tsunade said sharply. "You four are going, too. I'm not going to leave a bunch of teenagers by themselves on the side of a mountain."

"Noooo!" Kakashi cried, looking at the ceiling.

Tsunade looked up at her ceiling. "Who's up there that people keep talking to?" she wondered mildly, making the jounin sweatdrop. "Have everyone meet at the gates at nine tomorrow morning. Dismissed." There was a flurry of wind, and the four jounin vanished.

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(A/N: This is a few nights before, so that they have time to get to Konoha)

It must have been midnight when Kankuro woke up. There was a noise in the kitchen where they lived.

He groaned and stood up, walking out of his room. Looking to the left, he saw Temari, similarly irritated and sleepy. The two of them walked down the stairs to the kitchen, where there was a glow coming from the refridgerator.

Standing there, a silhouette in the whiteish light, was Gaara. He was pulling eggs and butter out of the fridge, cackling maniacally.

"Not again," Kankuro sighed, shaking his head. "This is the third night Gaara's woken me up."

"Me, too," Temari added, flinching when Gaara slid past her on shuffling feet. There was a large bowl on the counter; Gaara dumped the eggs and butter into the bowl with practiced ease.

"Cookies," he whispered.

"I can't take it anymore," Kankuro burst out. "Ever since Nari told him about - you know who - he's been like this. We're going to Konoha in the morning. Maybe Tsunade can fix this."

Temari nodded, looking in concern at her little brother, who was now looking at the oven, where a second batch of cookies were cooking. Their cupboards were stuffed with muffins, cookies, and their ingredients. "We'd better hurry," she said. "I don't think I can take this much longer, either."

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Nari shrugged her bird shoulders, loosening her muscles. She was perched on a tree in Konoha, the place where Kurenai's team usually met. She'd just gotten there; Kiba, Shino, and Hinata were still there.

"I wonder what that was all about?" Hinata wondered out loud, referring to their sensei vanishing.

"Who knows?" Kiba asked, shrugging. "It doesn't concern us."

"It might," Shino said. He spoke more often around his teammates than anyone else.

There was a loud tweet from the tree; it was a tweet of shock. Twi turned her pale gray, dark gray-striped head toward the tree and yowled, jumping into its branches.

"Wait!" Kiba cried. "I promised Nari I'd take care of you! Stupid cat," he muttered under his breath, annoyed.

Nari shrank back when Twi reached her. Then she fluttered out of the tree, with Twi chasing her.

"Don't eat the bird, Twi!" Hinata cried, distressed. The cat ignored her and chased the small sparrow all the way to Nari's home, where Nari changed back and collapsed on her bed.

"What's this?" Nari asked, picking up a piece of paper from her pillow. It was a note from Kakashi. A grin spread on her face. "A camp, huh?" she said quietly to herself. She looked up and ruffled Twi's head, making her purr. "Sounds like fun."

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Crow: Well? Does it sound like it's going to work out okay? I'm really going to have fun with this, I think.

Demyx: Not bad. Better than your Kingdom Hearts fics.

Crow: You shut up!

Demyx: Umm . . . um. . . . Look, Saix!

Saix: -glares-

Crow: You're not supposed to be in this dimension! -runs off-

Demyx: Please review! -to Nari- Dodge left! Left! No, your other left!


	2. Preparing for the Lake

Well, here's the next installment.

Demyx: It took you long enough.

Crow: I'm sorry if I've been busy with, uh, life!

Demyx: Yeah, well, don't let it happen again.

Crow: Oh yeah, I'll just let myself die before I forget to update.

Demyx: Good. I see you understand now.

Crow: -rolls eyes-

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way, shape, or form.

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I couldn't help but snicker as Nari hauled herself over the hill, her face comically relieved when she saw us all – wait a second, I'm narrating this chapter? Damn that author! Note to self: Find a way to break the fourth wall and strangle the author.

Anyway, Nari headed straight for me. That cute little cat of hers tagged along, too. I've always wondered where that cat came from.

"Are we leaving yet?" she asked when she came down, breathless. The cat – Twi – had jumped up onto her shoulder and wrapped her long tail around Nari's neck.

"Not quite," I replied. "We're still waiting for Kakashi." I snorted. "Although, if we have to wait till he gets here, we'll be here till next week."

Nari nodded. "True, that," she commented. She scanned the crowd of shinobi. "Did you notice this chapter isn't third person?" she asked casually, as if breaking the fourth wall was no big deal.

"How do you do that?" I asked, more like demanded.

"Do what?"

"Break the fourglergle…."

"Say what now?"

"Talk about the storugilible…."

She gave me an odd look. "Okay . . .," she said slowly. Then comprehension dawned on her face. "You mean the fourth wall, right?" she asked. I nodded enthusiastically. She winced sympathetically. "Since I'm an OC, I can do that," she said apologetically. "I'm afraid you can't."

I began mentally running through every foul word I knew. There were the basics I learned at school, but then there was that time when Shikamaru stubbed his toe, and when Neji had recovered from his fight with Naruto in the final part of the Chuunin exams enough for Lee to tease him, I had added several new words to my list.

Suddenly there was an uproar near the gates. We all turned to look, and saw the Sand Siblings standing in the gateway! Kankuro and Temari were hanging onto Gaara as if their life depended on it, though I couldn't see why. He looked like he usually did, which is scary, don't get me wrong, but shouldn't they be used to their brother?

Nari and I pushed through the crowd. Kiba joined us as we walked past his team. Tch, like I didn't see _that_ one coming. His crush on Nari is so obvious that the only one who doesn't see it is _Nari_.

"Nari, Tenten," he said, greeting us. "What's going on?" He had brought Akamaru with him today, and I had expected Twi and Akamaru to hiss and bark and do other animal things, but they barely even acknowledged one another.

Nari gave him a brief smile and shrug before turning to the Sand Siblings. "What are you three doing here?" she asked curiously.

Kankuro's eyes were wild and bloodshot. "We can't take it anymore!" he cried. "You have to fix him!"

"There's nothing wrong with me," Gaara said quietly. I was a bit taken aback, because he speaks even less than Neji.

"Fix what?" Nari inquired, raising one eyebrow. "He seems fine to me."

Temari and Kankuro looked at one another, and drew similar shuddering breaths. "The Muffin Man," Temari said clearly, looking at us.

I didn't understand why she was talking about the Muffin Man, until I remembered Gaara's dare and looked at him. His eyes had widened, and he whispered, "Muffins." Then sand began to surround him, and he jerked out of his siblings' grasp.

Nari walked briskly up to him and pulled him up by his shirt, smacking his face with a businesslike air. She completely ignored the sand, and it seemed to float past her without even thinking to strangle her guts out. If sand _can_ think, that is. Hmm. I wonder what sand thoughts would be?

_Dry. Hot. Boring. Why couldn't I have gotten a better job, like a leaf? At least they get to fall every autumn. All I get to do is be blown around and used in the occasional violent murder. What a pity._

Now I'm getting off track. Back to the Sand Siblings. Gaara had snapped out of it and gotten his murderous sand under control, thank goodness. Temari was begging Kurenai, who had been appointed leader of our little camp trip, to let them come. Finally she relented. I think the tears were what finally did it.

I walked back to my teammates. Neji was meditating, and I half-expected him to float into the air at any minute. Then he opened his eyes and stood up, walking behind a tree. He completely ignored me, of course. For a genius, he can be so dense sometimes! He doesn't even realize that I li– wait a second. He could read this, couldn't he? I'd better not say anything, then.

(The author would like to point out that at this time, Neji was whipping shut a laptop computer guiltily, cursing the fact that Tenten was so smart.)

"Where'dja get the laptop, Neji?" a cheerful voice chimed. I walked behind the tree curiously, to see Naruto looking at Neji. Neji was closing his knapsack guiltily, trying to ignore Naruto. That could just be because he's still sore from his defeat at Naruto's hands. Or maybe Naruto saw him on the Internet.

He is reading this, isn't he? Well, go away, Neji!

"Move out!" came the loud cry, saving Neji from the trouble to answer. Not that he would have, anyway. Like I said, he's very quiet.

The next few hours were pretty boring, for a ninja. There were some common road thugs that tried to rob us, but they were finished off before I even got a chance to fight! Nari and I spent some time griping about this, until we got the chance to take out two enemy ninja. Then we were happy.

While we were walking, I saw Hinata trying to pluck up her courage for something. I wondered what it could possibly be, and realized what it was when she began walking next to Naruto. She began talking to him, too! I was shocked that she would start a conversation with him, since she usually couldn't even look him in the eye.

"Hello, N-Naruto," she said quietly, keeping her eyes on the road.

"Oh, hey Hinata," he said. "This is pretty boring, isn't it?"

She nodded, and actually smiled. "It's enough to m-make you wish that some enemy n-ninja would attack," she said, barely stuttering at all. By now, Nari and I had to pick our jaws up off the floor and shove them back in place. "Well, I-I guess I'll see you later, N-Naruto," she added, dropping back to talk with us.

"Whoa, Hinata!" Nari exclaimed quietly, her eyes wide and round like saucers. "Are you taking confidence lessons, or something?"

Hinata actually _smirked_. Let me repeat that. Hinata _smirked_. And it was a true, Hyuuga-grade, Neji brand, capital-S Smirk. "Are you that surprised?" she asked, her voice smooth and unfaltering. I felt my eyes widen, rivaling Nari's dinner-plate eyes. "I figured I couldn't go through my life stuttering and being shy all the time," she continued, shrugging slightly. "Not when I'm 'the heir.'" She made air quotes with her fingers, an annoyed look on her face. "Really, won't they just make Neji the heir and get it done with? Everyone knows he's better."

Nari and I glanced at one another, then back at Hinata. Her voice was bitter and matter-of-fact. "I dunno, Hinata," Nari finally said in a choked voice. "You're not so bad yourself."

Hinata shrugged again. "If you think so," she said, her voice still in its confident form. "B-but don't tell a-anyone," she added, her voice soft and timid again. "I-It's a surprise. P-plus, I can use it t-to my advantage."

I grinned. "Good plan," I said with approval. "I guess we'll be seeing you."

Hinata raised one hand casually and dropped back further, to talk with her teammates.

Speaking of teammates. Here came one of mine now; his teeth practically blinded me. "TENTEN!" he exclaimed in his overly-loud voice. Now, who do you think it is? You get three guesses, and the first two don't count.

"Hi, Lee," I said wearily. Kudos to those of you who guessed right, and those of you who guessed Neji – for shame!

"Um, I've got to go . . . over there," Nari said hastily.

'Coward,' I mouthed, shielding my mouth from Lee with one hand. She cackled and jogged forward to chat with Sakura and Kakashi.

Luckily (for me), that was when we reached the campsite. "Uh, talk to you later, Lee," I said quickly, practically flying into the large building so I could check it out. There were five rooms with beds, and four beds were in each room. _Sweet!_ I thought. _One bed for everyone._

There was also a main gathering room, with a fireplace and everything. Also, there were three bathrooms. I shook my head as I could already picture the fights over the bathroom. I recalled that even in just one night, during what the boys and even some jounin ninja were starting to call "The Sleepover," Ino and Sakura had nearly torn down my house. They were arguing over who got the bathroom first, the morning after all of the fun stuff. I had to pin both of them to separate walls before they would stop.

"Okay, everyone pick a room!" Kurenai announced. "The jounin will all share one room, and the rest are up for grabs."

She just had to say that, didn't she? Instantly, there was a mad scramble as people rushed through the mountain cabin, trying to find the best room and claim it first. I don't want to indulge in all the boring details, but we'll just say that Sasuke's going to be _very_ sore in the morning, and Lee won't be able to sit down comfortably for a few weeks.

So, this is how it all ended up:

In the first room, Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, and Hinata ended up together. See, the three that were teamed together decided to stick together, and Hinata was separated from her team when Akamaru started fighting with Chouji. She tagged along with Naruto, and the four of them got a nice room overlooking the lake.

In the second room, Neji, Nari, Kiba, and I found ourselves unpacking. Lee had been separated from us almost instantaneously. Nari and I decided to stick together, so of course Kiba was with us. I'm not sure how Neji ended up with our little group, but that's the way it turned out. Our room was a large, airy room, with an almost loft-like quality. It had two large, panel-like windows that gave a beautiful view of the mountain and the sky. I was beginning to like this place.

In the third room, Shino, Shikamaru, Ino, and Temari were attempting to be situated, although I can already tell that Shino will have a rough time of it. Even as I'm unpacking now, I can hear Ino and Temari shouting at one another. Their room was one I only peeked in during my brief run-over of the cabin. All I saw when I looked in there were four beds, a high ceiling, and wavy red curtains.

In the fourth, and final, room, Chouji, Gaara, Lee, and Kankuro found themselves together. I almost laughed at the grouping of them, because Chouji and Lee didn't know one another at all, and Chouji seemed in perpetual terror of Gaara. Gaara and Lee got along all right, respecting one another and everything, but I wonder how it'll turn out with Gaara's – ahem – condition, if you will.

Once everyone had unpacked their belongings and finished their arguments, they came down to the living room. It was a nice room, with a large fireplace and several couches and chairs, plenty for tired shinobi. Or too many for hyper shinobi.

"What do we do first?" That came from Naruto. He was jumping up and down, grinning in glee.

Kurenai looked around, exasperated. "We need some ORDER!" she shouted, making everyone freeze.

"How about we all go for a swim in the lake?" Nari suggested in the quiet.

I nodded. "Sounds like a good plan to me," I said. Yeah, a good plan. I laughed inwardly as I envisioned the chaos that was unavoidable if we went that route.

"Very well, then," Kurenai agreed. "A swim in the lake, and then we'll figure out some teamwork exercises," she added with a glare. "Don't forget that we're here for a reason."

Everyone nodded and went up to their rooms to get their swimming things.

I smiled at Neji as I pulled my swimsuit out of my pack. "Did you even bring a swimsuit, Neji?" I teased. He grunted, and I laughed as I went down to fight for my right to one of the bathrooms. Yes, this swim in the lake would be very interesting, indeed. . . .

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So, what do you think so far? I know it's late, but I had to get this up.

Demyx: Not bad at all, Crow. Better by far than your KH fics, for sure.

Crow: Hey!

Demyx: Oh, lighten up.

Crow: You suck. –to readers- Please review!


	3. Snakes in a Lake!

A/N: Well, while I'm trying to overcome the writer's block I've hit in Better Know A Nobody, I'm going to work on this fic!

Demyx: Hey Crow, guess what?

Crow: What?

Demyx: School starts tomorrow.

Crow: What!?!? Nooooo! –stares despairingly at the sky-

Demyx: -snickers- I've been doing that all day. It's hilarious.

Crow: Yeah, school starts for me on the 3rd (I started working on this on the 2nd)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way, shape, or form.

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The Lake Incident . . . . . _Neji Hyuuga had not been having a good day . . ._

I frowned at my pack as Tenten left the room. . . . Oh, so now it's my turn for the authoress to torture me? Very well, then.

As the little blurb states above, I have not been having a good day. Or a good week, for that matter. Dare I go far enough to say I've had a bad month, or maybe year?

For one thing, I'm stuck in the mountain cabin for two weeks with all of these . . . shinobi. Most of them being very noisy and annoying. For another thing, lately every time I've been around Tenten I've felt an odd stirring in my stomach, tension and happiness all rolled into one. For a third thing, we're going swimming at the lake. I do not like large quantities of still water. I'm fine with rivers, and I'm fine with fighting people in large quantities of water, but when I'm only there to "play" I get a little testy.

After fighting my way into one of the bathrooms, I changed quickly and moved into the main room to wait. Tenten, Sakura, and Sasuke were already there. I felt the odd stirring in my stomach as I sat down in one of the chairs.

"Hey, Neji!" Tenten said cheerfully before turning back to her conversation with Sakura. It was then that I noticed something completely and utterly odd. Sakura wasn't fighting to gain Sasuke's attention at all. Although I don't know them well, I know the two well enough to know that Sakura will try to impress Sasuke and the Uchiha will ignore her.

It seems that something has changed. Sakura is chatting animatedly with Tenten, completely ignoring Sasuke. Sasuke was glaring in their direction angrily. I smirked on the inside when I realized that Sasuke had come to enjoy getting all that attention.

A loud, tumbling cloud of dust and flailing limbs signaled the entrance of Temari and Ino. Those two have a cat-and-dog relationship, I must say. Shikamaru and Nari followed them, one looking exasperated and the other gleeful. I'll let you decide who is who.

Nari came over to Tenten and Sakura and lounged over an ottoman with her upper body, entering the conversation. I edged a little closer so that I could hear what they were saying.

"And then I'll pull out some kunai and throw them at Kiba," Tenten was saying. "I'll be standing next to Naruto, so he'll think Naruto did it. Then he'll attack Naruto, and with a few more moves we can cause chaos!"

The three girls were laughing and giggling as easily as if they were talking about makeup or some such thing, but they were actually discussing pulling a prank! I never knew those three would be the ones to pull a prank; that was usually Naruto's thing.

Within the next fifteen minutes, everyone had arrived. Surprisingly, (coughSARCASMcough) Kakashi had decided not to swim, and was wearing his typical clothes. Kurenai and Asuma were wearing their clothes over their swimsuits, as many of the others had done. Gai was wearing – ugh – I'm not even going to say it. Let's just say you should be grateful you weren't there.

"Let's move out!" Kurenai ordered.

"Yes! Let us run with the power of Youth to the Youthful Lake!" Gai exclaimed.

"Yes!" Lee agreed, jumping up with fire in his eyes. "If I cannot make it to the lake within three minutes, then I must swim around the lake fifty times!"

The two of them ran off in little mini-clouds of dust, leaving everyone's mouths hanging open. Except for Tenten and I, who are of course accustomed to the two's oddities.

Hinata was humming under her breath as everyone left the cabin. Of course, I had noticed when she started taking confidence lessons, but I hadn't noticed how affective they had been until she plucked up the courage to talk with Naruto on the way to the cabin.

"Hey, Hinata!" Ugh, that blond-haired boy, sticking his nose in again. I watched as Hinata blushed and began talking with Naruto.

"Someone's a little overprotective." The teasing voice came from my right. I turned and looked into Tenten's amused eyes.

"I am not," I told her, ignoring the strong surging sensation in the pit of my stomach. I wasn't getting sick, was I? I didn't feel sick. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I felt wonderful, like I could take on the world with Tenten right next to me . . . ??? Where did that thought come from? I shook my head in the hopes that it would clear my head.

"Well then, what do you call death-glaring at Naruto?" Tenten continued in the same teasing voice. I couldn't help admiring how she could hide the plan she had made earlier so well. You couldn't even tell that she was planning to wreak havoc when we reached the lake.

"Hn," I replied, falling back on my trusty, one-syllable, not-even-a-word reply.

Tenten laughed, and I felt the stirring sensation rise from my stomach to my chest, spreading a tingling sensation in my limbs. What on earth was going on?

We made it to the lake within five minutes, and I saw Lee was already swimming in large laps around the lake. The lake itself was beautiful, with sparkling water that spoke of delightful depths, and a small, sandy island in the center held a large oak tree. It was so big and deep and inviting. I hated it.

_Water, _my inner self groaned. _Lots and lots of deep, still water._

I heard a cry of pain from behind me and turned to see Kiba pulling a kunai out of his shirt. Tenten must have aimed it so it just barely nicked his skin, because there was no blood. I suppose that makes sense, because otherwise Nari would have never accepted the plan. She's grown extremely attached to that boy.

Kiba was looking around angrily, searching for the perpetrator. "Na-ru-to!" he screeched, fixing his eyes on the blond-haired prankster. He lunged for Naruto, his hands outstretched. Akamaru grabbed his partner by the scruff of his shirt, holding him back. Kiba snarled wordlessly.

"What did I do?" Naruto asked, eyes wide in surprise.

Akamaru shook his owner like a bone, and turned away from Naruto. Nobody else saw, but I caught the flickering shine of steel as Tenten launched a kunai at Akamaru.

Akamaru howled, shaking a kunai out of his fur. He turned and dropped Kiba, and the two of them simultaneously pounced on Naruto.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted, struggling beneath a writhing mass of fur and teeth. "Let go of me! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Suddenly there were several Narutos, all of them fighting Akamaru and Kiba.

"Whoops, sorry!" one clone said as it accidentally hit Sakura.

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted, punching the clone in the head and making him vanish in a puff of smoke.

Akamaru accidentally tried to take a chunk out of Gaara. Gaara, of course, immediately retaliated, his sand hovering in the air like a small, brown tidal wave. The sand wave hit several other people, who acted in kind. Within seconds chaos had descended, with fire and sand and kunai and shuriken flying through the air like rain.

I had taken to a tree as soon as the fighting began, not wanting to get in the middle of an unnecessary fight. The only training that was necessary was when I sparred with Tenten.

"STOP!" The yell brought the chaos to a halt. Everyone turned and stared at Kurenai, who was glaring angrily at everyone at once, a feat that's hard to manage (I know, I've tried it). Kakashi was standing lazily behind her, kind of like back-up. Everyone knows that Kakashi's really powerful. But I could probably beat him in a fair match.

"You've got your jealous face on," a voice teased, two inches from my ear. I jumped nearly a foot in the air, but disguised it and turned to face the speaker. Tenten was smirking at me, her face only a few inches from my own.

"I do not," I told her, unconsciously scooting back slightly. Being that close to her did wild things to my heartbeat.

"Yes you do," she insisted. "You were looking at Kakashi-sensei with that glare on your face that says, 'Oh, I could take him.'" She twisted her face in a snarl and deepened her voice.

I almost laughed, but then I remembered that I am The Neji and do not laugh. "Well, do you think we'll still go to the lake?" Tenten asked, not noticing my difficulty of breathing when she was close by.

"Perhaps," I said, hoping to whatever lived up in the sky that we wouldn't.

Kurenai was glaring at only Naruto now, who had let his clones vanish. He let go of Kiba's shirt and looked down woefully.

Kurenai sighed. "Just go to the beach," she said, putting a hand to her forehead.

"Yes!" came the cry, from several people's throats. There was a mad rush as shinobi stripped off their shirts and outer clothes and ran, jumped, and walked into the lake.

"Are you coming?" Tenten asked, taking off her outer clothes as well. I froze for a moment, seeing her in the swimsuit . . . and then mentally shook myself firmly and nodded.

I took off my shirt and walked up to the edge of the lake. The water was just a few inches below the ground, but the spot I had walked up to was a hill, and the water was deep. I put a foot in the water, feeling very foolish.

Suddenly, I felt someone's hands on my shoulder blades, pushing me into the water. I pinwheeled, waving my arms wildly, before plummeting into the deep, still water (although it wasn't quite so still now).

I flailed about underwater before coming up for air, gasping and choking and spitting out water. I had just gotten the water out of my eyes when someone leapt into the lake next to me, sending water spraying all over my face. I spluttered as Tenten poked her head out of the water, grinning as she treaded water.

Which reminded me that I _wasn't_ treading water, and would soon sink. I immediately began moving my arms and legs in circular motions, trying to stay afloat.

"Hey, are you okay, Neji?" Tenten asked, looking at me with genuine concern. I almost choked again, and this time it wasn't because of the water.

"I . . . don't like large quantities of still water," I finally admitted, swallowing my pride. Tenten was perhaps the only person I would admit this to.

Tenten looked mortified. "And I just pushed you in . . . oh, I'm so sorry," she apologized profusely.

I shrugged, and nearly went under. "It's okay," I said once I had regained my tentative balance.

She put her hands on her hips, even underwater. "You know this means I'll have to teach you to swim," she said, smiling slightly.

I felt small alarm bells going off in my mind. "Swim . . .?" This wouldn't end well.

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(A/N: This ends Neji's p.o.v. The rest of the chapter will be 3rd person.)

Sakura floated in the shallows of the lake, surveying the rest of the shinobi. Their plan had worked very well, she decided. Nari was, oddly enough, not with Tenten as she usually was. Normally the two were attached at the hip, except for when Tenten and Neji were training. Sakura smirked. Neji had almost refused to come in the lake, until Tenten had coaxed him out. Sakura had watched Tenten push him in, and seen him flail about. She decided that Tenten and Neji would probably keep to themselves for a while, because Neji didn't want to be embarrassed for not knowing something, and Tenten knew that.

Sakura looked over at Nari. She was with Naruto and Kiba, who had decided to settle their differences with a splash-battle. Nari was helping Kiba, dousing Naruto with water and ducking under when he turned around. She smiled at the trio, happy that they were happy.

As Sakura looked at the rest of the lake's occupants, one boy was glaring at her from the lakeshore. Sasuke just didn't get girls sometimes. One day they're fawning all over you, and as soon as you get used to it, and maybe even grow to like them, they leave you in the rain.

He narrowed his eyes at Kiba. He'd had a strange feeling about that boy. And Naruto, he's always made it clear he likes Sakura. Sasuke scowled, as he brooded in the grass.

There was a noise, not quite a "hn" that Neji might make, but pretty close. Sasuke turned to see Gaara sitting down next to him. Sasuke raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

" . . . You should go to her," Gaara finally said. Sasuke turned to him questioningly. "Before it's too late," he clarified. He was looking at Nari slightly wistfully.

"Oh," Sasuke said, realizing something and feeling quite stupid. "Does . . . does she like you?" he asked hesitantly. He was inexperienced in this field, and didn't know what to say.

Gaara sighed. "She might have once, but probably not now." He shook his head, and Sasuke realized how naked he looked without the gourd on his back. Then Gaara looked Sasuke in the eye and smiled slightly. "But I'm moving on," he said, almost cheerful. "You'd better make your move, before someone else does." He stood up and walked away.

Sasuke stared after the red-haired boy, puzzled. Gaara had never spoken much, so why did he speak now? Then he began thinking about Gaara's words. He decided that Gaara was probably right, but what should he do?

"Giant snake!" The loud scream came from the other side of the lake. Shikamaru, Temari, Ino, Lee, and Gai were paddling frantically to shore. A large water snake was chasing them, its maw open wide.

"Orochimaru?" Sasuke hissed questioningly, standing into a crouch.

"I doubt it," Sakura remarked beside him. He jumped, not having realized how close she was. "What would he be doing here, anyway?" She grinned at him and jumped onto the lake, using her extreme chakra control to run across the surface towards the snake.

Sasuke ran after her, wondering why she was crazy enough to run at the snake. She could be hurt! Not, he reminded himself, that he cared. Well, maybe a little.

Sakura smiled to herself as she began fighting the snake. She had spent enough time around Sasuke to know his moods, and she had seen that brooding jealousy on his face when she was in the lake with Kiba, Naruto, and Nari. She had also seen the brief look of panic when she ran out on the lake. She smiled wider. Her plan was starting to work.

---------------------------------------------------------

A few minutes later, there were chunks of snake guts at the bottom of the lake, and several satisfied shinobi.

"Someone's going to have to clean that up, you know," Tenten commented to Nari.

Nari grinned wolfishly. "Maybe you should suggest to Lee that it would be a good exercise," she said slyly, and the two laughed.

Everyone was sitting on the side of the lake, drowsily resting off the adrenaline of the fight. All was peaceful, and we can't have that, can we?

"PERVERT!" a girl's voice shouted, followed by a resounding smack. Heads turned in a flurry of movement, and everyone watched Ino marching away with a towel around her body. Shino was staring after her as if she had grown two heads, wondering what on earth he had done to deserve such a fate.

Tenten and Sakura sweatdropped, and the girls all leaned back against the grass. It was going to be a long two weeks. . . .


End file.
